1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixture to be employed for a horizontal boarding for building frame using for instance a ceramic siding board, in which the siding boards are attached to a building frame with the longitudinal direction of each ceramic siding board being orientated in the horizontal direction. The present invention also relates to a method of fastening the siding boards for building frame in the horizontal boarding using the fixture.
2. Description of the Related Arts
As an exterior work of a house, a boarding for attaching ceramic siding boards to a frame construction is usually performed.
This boarding using siding boards has been performed either by a horizontal boarding where the siding boards are attached to the frame construction with the longitudinal direction of the siding boards being directed in the lateral direction (horizontal direction), or by a vertical boarding where the siding boards are attached to the frame construction with the longitudinal direction of the siding boards being directed in the upright direction (vertical direction). As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, in the case of wood frame construction (two-by-four work) for example, a framework 10 is assembled at first, and after a backing material 3 such as a plywood or a moisture permeable waterproofing sheet is attached as desired to the framework 10, ceramic siding boards 40 are fixedly fastened to the framework 10 by taking advantage of the studs 12 of the framework 10.
In the case of the horizontal boarding, a first siding board 40 to be disposed at the lowest portion of the frame work 10 is horizontally placed at first to the framework 10 and fastened thereto using nails 62 by taking advantage of studs 12. Then, a second siding board 40 to be fastened over the first siding board 40 is horizontally placed with the lower rabbeted horizontal edge 40a of the second siding board being fitted over or engaged with the upper rabbeted horizontal edge 40b of the first siding board 40, and then fastened to the studs 12 in the same manner as illustrated above using nails 62. Since the head 62a of the nail 62 employed in fastening the siding board 40 is exposed in this case, thus deteriorating the external appearance or design of the finish, a coating coverage is usually subsequently applied to such an exposed head portion of the nails 62. Further, there is also a possibility that the siding boards 40 may be damaged due to the nailing work.
With a view to overcome the aforementioned problems, a method of fastening the siding boards by making use of a metallic fixture exclusively dedicated for the siding boards has been proposed as taught in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication H9-203184. FIG. 16 shows one example of such a metallic fixture (hereinafter, referred to also as a metallic fixture) 30. As shown in FIG. 17, this metallic fixture 30 is adapted to be fastened to the studs 12 using screws or nails 62 which are to be applied through holes 34 formed in the substrate 31. In this example, the siding board 40 is formed of a laterally elongated shape, four sides of which are respectively formed into a shiplap configuration. Specifically, the overlying rabbeted portion thereof is consisted of a overlying tongue patterning portion 41 constituting the front side of the overlying rabbeted portion, an overlying tongue engaging portion 42 constituting the back side of the overlying rabbeted portion, and a groove portion 43 formed between the pattern-forming upper tongue portion 41 and the overlying tongue engaging portion 42. On the other hand, the underlying rabbeted portion thereof is formed at the upper side of the siding board arranged below, covered by the overlying tongue patterning portion 41, and consisted of an underlying tongue engaging portion 44 being attached to the metallic fixture 30.
The installation of the siding boards 40 can be performed as follows. First of all, the distal edge portion of the underlying tongue engaging portion 44 of a lower siding board 40B is fitted in the lower engaging portion 50B (which is formed with a substrate 31, a horizontal portion 32 and a downwardly inclined hook portion 33B) of the metallic fixture 30 which has been fixedly attached in advance to the studs 12 by means of screws or nails 62, thereby securing the lower siding board 40B to studs 12. Then, the overlying tongue engaging portion 42 of an upper siding board 40A is fitted in the upper engaging portion 50A (which is formed with a substrate 31, a horizontal portion 32 and a upwardly inclined hook portion 33A) of the metallic fixture 30, thereby securing the upper siding board 40A to studs 12. Since the upper siding board 40A and the lower siding board 40B are joined in this manner, there is little possibility that the surface of the siding boards is damaged, and the existence of the metallic fixture 30 cannot be externally recognized, thus making it possible to provide a very excellent external appearance of boarding.
In the horizontal boarding as mentioned above, the horizontal joint is a shiplap joint when four sides of the siding board are respectively formed into a shiplap configuration, on the other hand, the horizontal sides are simply butt against each other when only the vertical sides of the siding board are formed into a shiplap configuration.
In the meantime, in the case of wood frame construction (two-by-four work), a framework is fabricated according to the standard dimension, and hence the distance between studs is constant (for example, 16 inches and 24 inches). If the length in longitudinal direction of the siding board is an integral multiple of the standard distance between the centers of studs, the joint portion between the vertical sides of siding boards arranged horizontally would coincide with the position of any of the studs of the framework, so that the joint portion between the vertical sides of siding boards can be firmly fastened to the studs by simply attaching a couple of siding boards side by side to the fixtures fixed in advance to the studs.
However, if the length in longitudinal direction of the siding board is not an integral multiple of the standard distance between the centers of studs, the joint portion between the vertical sides of siding boards arranged horizontally would not coincide with the position of the studs of the framework. This situation tends to happen occasionally when the framework to be employed in a wood frame construction is manufactured based on a different standard from the standard of the siding boards, or when siding boards manufactured are required to be cut at an intermediate portion thereof due to certain circumstances. This situation is also caused to happen when, due to the design of house, a framework of off-specification is required to be partially employed.
When there is a portion in the boarding construction where the joint portion between the vertical sides of siding boards does not coincide with the position of the studs of the framework in the installation of siding boards by making use of metallic fixtures secured in advance to each stud, the joint portion may be simply left in a state of shiplap joint or in a contacted state, so that the joint portion may become very weak in mechanical strength. Therefore, if an external force is happened to be applied to such a joint portion, the joint portion is more likely to be displaced, and rain water may penetrate into the inside of the siding boards through this displaced joint portion.
Another problem accompanied with the boarding using the conventional fixture is that the metallic fixture fastening vertical siding boards is likely to be displaced due to the weight of the siding boards. Such a problem may not be raised when the metallic fixture is directly nailed to a non-deformable material such as a wood stud. However, when it is desired that a thick backing board formed of a relatively soft material such as a foamed resin board or a wood fiber board such as OSB is attached at first as a heat-insulating material to studs before a fixture is secured via the aforementioned thick backing board to the wood stud, the employment of such a fixture 30 as shown in FIG. 16 would result in a sinking of the leg portion 31a of the metallic fixture 30 in the backing board due to the weight of the siding boards. As a result, the metallic fixture 30 would be inclined, whereby the siding boards would be instabilized, thus giving rise to the generation of displacement or warpage of the siding boards.
A further problem accompanied with the boarding using the conventional fixture is that fixtures of various size which are exclusively dedicated for siding boards of various thickness such as a 16 mm-thick siding board or a 18 mm-thick siding board are required to be separately fabricated by a process involving a drawing work of a specific metallic substrate. The manufacture of fixtures of various kinds necessitates a lot of working steps.
The present invention has been made in view of overcoming the aforementioned problems that may be caused in the horizontal boarding using the conventional fixtures for installing the siding boards to a framework assembled according to a wood frame construction.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a fixture which is capable of stably fix the joint portion between the vertical sides of neighboring siding boards even if the studs and the siding boards are fabricated according to a different standard from each other, and capable of preventing from being displaced due to the weight of the siding boards even if the fixture is attached via a relatively soft backing material to the studs.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a horizontal boarding method using the aforementioned fixture.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a fixture which is capable of reliably preventing rain water from penetrating into the back side of the siding boards through the joint portion between the vertical sides of neighboring siding boards.
A still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a plural kinds of fixtures which are to be employed for fastening siding boards having a different thickness from each other by making use of a common metallic substrate and a small number of working steps.
A still another object of the present invention is to provide a fixture that can be manufactured according to the aforementioned manufacturing method.
With a view to realize the aforementioned objects, the present invention provides a fixture useful for a horizontal boarding to be performed by making use of studs erected side by side, said fixture comprises;
a flat substrate constituting a mounting surface to be contacted with said studs; a flat portion protruded forward from said flat substrate; an upright portion protruded forward perpendicular to said flat portion and extending throughout an entire lateral width of said flat portion; and an engaging portion formed at a distal end of said upright portion;
wherein fixture has a laterally elongated width having a sufficient dimension to bridge neighboring two studs.
The present invention also provides a horizontal boarding method for installing siding boards to a building frame using the aforementioned fixture, said method comprising the steps of; fixedly attaching a first metallic fixture having an engaging portion to be engaged with a horizontal side edge of the siding board to each of the studs erected side by side with said engaging portion being orientated horizontally; horizontally placing said siding boards on said first metallic fixture while allowing a lower horizontal side edge to be engaged with said engaging portion of said first metallic fixture attached to said studs; fixedly attaching another metallic fixture having the same configuration as that of said first metallic fixture to said studs with the engaging portion thereof being engaged with an upper horizontal side edge of said siding boards placed horizontally; and repeating the aforementioned steps; which is characterized in that when a joint portion between the vertical sides of neighboring siding boards arranged horizontally does not coincide with the position of any of said studs, the aforementioned metallic fixture is fixedly attached as a second fixture to bridge a couple of neighboring studs between which said joint portion between the vertical sides of siding boards is to be located thereby fastening said joint portion of a couple of neighboring siding boards by making use of said second fixture.
According to this siding method, even when a joint portion between the vertical sides of neighboring siding boards arranged horizontally does not coincide with the position of any of said studs but is positioned at an intermediate place between the studs due to a difference in standard with which the studs and siding boards are separately fabricated, the joint portion can be securely fastened by the second fixture, and hence, these neighboring couple of siding boards can be stably installed to the studs.
According to a preferable embodiment of this siding method, said first fixture employed therein comprises a flat substrate constituting a mounting surface to be contacted with said studs; a first upright portion formed vertically on one side of said substrate; a second upright portion formed vertically on the other side of said substrate; a third upright portion extending perpendicular to said flat substrate; and an engaging portion formed at a distal end of said third upright portion; wherein the siding boards to be installed are fastened by allowing the horizontal sides thereof to be clamped between the distal end portions of said first and second upright portions and said engaging portion formed at the distal end of said third upright portion.
It is possible according to the present invention to apply, as a heat insulating material, a thick backing board formed of a relatively soft material such as a foamed resin board to the studs, and then, to fixedly attach the aforementioned first and second fixtures to the studs with the backing board being interposed therebetween. Since the first and second fixtures are respectively provided with a flat substrate portion, there is no possibility, even if the first and second fixtures are fastened through such a backing board to the studs, that the leg portions of the metallic fixture are sunk in the backing board due to the weight of the siding boards, thereby causing a displacement of the metallic fixture as seen in the case of the conventional fixture. Therefore, it is possible according to the present invention to ensure the stability of the siding boards and to prevent the generation of displacement or warpage of the siding boards.
The upright portion of the second fixture may be provided with openings for draining water, thereby more reliably preventing the back surface of the siding boards from being kept in a wet condition. Alternatively, the second fixture may be constructed such that a U-groove which is recessed backward is formed in the flat portion protruded forward from the flat substrate, the bottom of the U-groove constituting the same level as that of the flat substrate and being provided with through-holes for nailing. This second fixture constructed in this manner is advantageous in that the fixing thereof to the studs can be further ensured.
More preferably, the engaging portion formed at a distal end of the upright portion of the second fixture is configured into a triangular shape in cross-section with the top portion thereof being made into a flat surface. If the second fixture is configured in this manner, even if the joint portion between the vertical sides of neighboring siding boards is located at an intermediate portion between the studs, it is possible to more effectively prevent rain water from penetrating through this joint portion into the backside of the siding boards. More preferably, the aforementioned triangular cross-sectional portion of the second fixture should be hollow for the purpose of reducing the total weight of the second fixture. The second fixture having such a configuration can be easily manufactured by an extrusion molding of aluminum.
As for the first fixture, the third upright portion thereof is formed of a bent piece of the substrate portion, the bent portion thereof being curved by a pressing-up from the back surface of the substrate portion. When the first fixture is constructed in this manner, a plural kinds of fixtures each being adapted for use in the fastening of a plural kinds of siding boards each differing in thickness can be manufactured using a common metallic substrate and requiring a reduced number of manufacturing steps, thereby making it possible to minimize the manufacturing cost of the fixtures.
Additionally, according to the present invention, the ventilation passage between the building frame and the siding boards is secured by the height of the first and second upright portions formed in the first fixture, as well as by the flat portion protruded forward and formed in the second fixture. As a result, it is possible to effectively discharge any dewy water generated therein, thus making it possible to prevent the back surface of the siding boards from being kept in a wet state.